Capillary electrophoresis is used in biochemical analysis to detect analytes in a mixture. One popular application is analysis of nucleic acids that are the product of sequencing or amplification reactions. Modern capillary electrophoresis devices use arrays of capillaries to perform multiplex analysis. Such devices regulate temperature in the capillaries in a variety of ways. One method circulates air at a particular temperature around the capillaries, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 7,601,252. In another method the capillaries are in thermal contact with a heating plate, such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,223,326 and 7,473,342.
Analytes in capillary arrays are detected using a variety of optical assemblies.